Google Drive rumored to offer 5GB of free storage in April

Google has long been rumored to be working on a Dropbox-like cloud storage solution. Last month, the Wall Street Journal said the so-called Google Drive service was coming soon. Now, TechCrunch has more specifics, claiming the service will launch during the week of April 16. It looks like users will get 5GB of free storage off the bat.

As TechCrunch points out, Dropbox currently offers 2GB of free storage, while Microsoft's SkyDrive service provides a whopping 25GB of capacity at no extra charge. There doesn't appear to be a way for users to increase their SkyDrive storage, but Dropbox sells 50GB and 100GB plans for $10 and $20 a month, respectively (or $100 and $200 a year). Google is expected to allow users to buy extra storage for less than what Dropbox is charging. Details on pricing haven't leaked yet, though.

I've been holding off on adopting a cloud-based storage service to see what Google might bring to the table. To be honest, I was hoping for a lot more free storage. My Gmail account can already balloon to over 7GB without Google batting an eye, making the potential 5GB cap on free Drive storage seem a little restrictive. Then again, adding more gigabytes could be really cheap. Of greater importance may be how well Google Drive integrates with software other than web browsers, and whether it's easy to connect as a networked drive in Windows.